Andrea E. Thode, Ph.D. - Associate Professor
Research Interests
Fire as it interacts with landscape ecology, restoration ecology, community ecology,
invasive species, and wildlife. This includes fire regimes, fire behavior and fire
effects.
Current Projects
Burn severity mapping using Landsat TM imagery, quantification of burn severity
on the ground and through remote sensing, pattern analysis of burn severity and
quantification of current fire regimes.
Fire Ecology focuses on the effects of fire on ecosystems including soils, watersheds,
air, flora, fauna and humans. These effects range from the microsite to entire landscapes
and the concept of fire regimes are critical. Fire Science focuses on fire behavior
characteristics and modeling those characteristics. This includes an understanding
of fire weather, fuels and the basic principles of fire spread and combustion.
An understanding of both fire ecology and fire science are critical in natural resource
land management and in understanding how fuel treatments across the landscape will
help with restoring or changing fire regimes and changing fire behavior. The issues
that surround communities settled in fire-prone ecosystems extend past the wildland
urban interface and require a basic understanding of the fire ecology and fire behavior
of the ecosystems involved.
Education
B.S., University of California, Davis, 1996
Ph.D., University of California, Davis, 2005
Contact Information
Office: Building 82 - Room 200
Phone: 928.523.5457
Email: Andi.Thode@nau.edu
Selected Publications
Books and book chapters
Sugihara, N, J. van Wagtendonk, J. Fites-Kaufman, K. Shaffer and A. Thode, (eds.).
2006. Fire in California ecosystems. University of California Press, Berkeley, CA.
Thode, A., J. Kershner, K. Roby, L. Decker, and J. Beyers. 2006. Fire, watershed
resources and aquatic ecosystems. In: Fire in California ecosystems; N. Sugihara,
J. van Wagtendonk, J. Fites-Kaufman, K. Shaffer and A. Thode (eds.) University of
California Press, Berkeley, CA.
N. Sugihara, J. van Wagtendonk, J. Fites-Kaufman, K. Shaffer and A. Thode. 2006.
The Future of Fire in California’s Ecosystems. In: Fire in California ecosystems;
N. Sugihara, J. van Wagtendonk, J. Fites-Kaufman, K. Shaffer and A. Thode (eds.)
University of California Press, Berkeley, CA.
Peer-reviewed refereed journals
Scudieri, C1., C. Sieg, S. Haase, A. Thode; S. Sackett. 2010. Understory vegetation
response after 30 years of interval prescribed burning in two ponderosa pine sites
in northern Arizona. Forest Ecology and Management. 260: 2134-2142.
Lutz J., J. van Wagtendonk, A. Thode, J. Miller, J. Franklin. 2009. Climate, lightning
ignitions, and fire severity in Yosemite National Park, California, USA. International
Journal of Wildland Fire. 18:765–774.
Kobziar, L., M. Rocca, C. Dicus, C. Hoffman, N. Sugihara, A. Thode, J Varner, P.
Morgan. 2009. Challenges to educating the next generation of wildland fire professionals
in the US. Journal of Forestry 107: 339-345.
Miller, J., H. Safford, M. Crimmins, A. Thode. 2009. Quantitative evidence for increasing
forest fire severity in the Sierra Nevada and southern Cascade Mountains, California
and Nevada, USA. Ecosystems 12:16–32.
Collins, B, J. Miller, A. Thode, M. Kelly, J. van Wagtendonk, S. Stephens. 2009.
Interactions among wildland fires in a long-established Sierra Nevada natural fire
area. Ecosystems 12:114–128
Miller, J. and A. Thode. 2007. Quantifying burn severity in a heterogeneous landscape
with a relative version.